Christ's College is a great place to study Natural Sciences. We have an illustrious past, with many top scientists studying and working here. These include no less a figure than Charles Darwin, together with three Nobel Prize winners and many of today's most influential researchers. The present is no less exciting with a vibrant college science community including undergraduates, graduate students and fellows.

University Website: http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/natsci/index.html

Biological Part 1A: Dr Tom Monie, Parts 1B, 2, 3: Dr Helena Browne
Physical: Dr Alan Winter

Subject Directors of Studies

Dr Alessio Ciulli (Chemistry)
Dr David Norman (Earth Sciences, Geology)
Dr Tom Matthams (Materials Science, Metallurgy, Minerals Science)
Dr Richard Batley (Physics)
Dr Tom Monie (Biology of Cells)
Dr Jonathan Gillard (Anatomy)
Professor Nicholas Gay (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)
Dr Sinone Schnall (Experimental Psychology)
Dr Helena Browne (Pathology)
Professor Michael Edwardson (Pharmacology)
Dr David Thomas (Neurobiology, Physiology)
Dr David Norman (Animal Biology, Evolution and Behaviour, Plant and Microbial Sciences, Ecology, Zoology)
Dr Steven Murdoch (Computer Science)
Professor Jim Secord (History & Philosophy of Science)
Dr Alan Winter (Mathematics for Natural Sciences)

Professor Margaret Stanley
Professor Martin Johnson
Professor Chris Abell
Professor Peter McNaughton
Professor Jim Smith
Dr Susan Jones (Bye-Fellow)
Dr Joyce Wong
Dr Richard Clarke
Professor Gerard Evan
Professor David Klenerman
Dr Ed Roberts
Dr Ben Longdon

A Day in the Life of a Christ's Biological Natural Scientist (opens in new window)

A Day in the Life of a Christ's Physical Natural Scientist (opens in new window)

Why study Natural Sciences at Christ's?

Christ's accepts about twenty four to thirty students each year to read Natural Sciences.  We provide our students with the support needed to adapt to University life and to flourish. Students have the pastoral support of a Tutor in a subject different from their own. They also have a fellow in a Natural Science subject as their Director of Studies, who guides them through decisions about subject choices, provides advice and monitors their progress. In addition to the lectures, practical classes and field trips provided by the University, our students are taught within college in small groups of  one, two or three by active scientists, who research subjects as diverse as particle physics, vertebrate evolution, glacier dynamics and the malaria parasite. There is also the chance to put science into practice by working in a real research laboratory and maybe making exciting new discoveries of your own! Our students are academically successful and move into a diverse range of careers after graduation.

Christ's has an active undergraduate science society, the Darwin Society, which arranges both social and scientific events. Recently, in addition to putting on their annual dinner and garden party, they have written a website about Charles Darwin and evolution, held a day to help local six-form students to understand evolution, and arranged a number of fascinating talks.

Christ's also provides a modern library, a theatre, sporting facilities, playing fields, social activities and clubs and societies open to all.  We are able to offer College-owned accommodation throughout the course.  Please see other parts of this web site for more information. 

Who is the Natural Sciences course for?

The Cambridge Natural Sciences Tripos provides the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects, while specialising in a single subject in later years. It therefore allows students to maintain a broad range of interests while still becoming an expert in one aspect of science. It is a busy, intense course and moves quickly. If you are fascinated by science, and want to study a number of areas of science at University level before specialising, then Natural Sciences is for you and we would love to meet you.

How do I win a place at Christ's?

We are looking for enthusiastic, motivated, gifted science students from all backgrounds. The admissions process is therefore designed to provide all applicants with a level playing field. While we do expect you to have a good understanding of the syllabus you are studying, we are more interested in your enthusiasm and your ability to reason and think for yourselves. If you are invited for interview as a result of applying for Natural Sciences, you will have two 20-30 minute interviews with different subject specialists, in which you are likely to be asked one or more problem solving questions in addition to more general questions. If you are the best scientist in your class, and are keen to study Natural Sciences, why not have a go at applying?

What our students say about Natural Sciences at Christ's

Here are a few quotes from some of our current or recent students

"Natural Sciences is an enjoyable, interesting and well run course and it is great to have the opportunity to take such a wide variety of subjects."

"There are a large number of Natural Scientists in each year, so there's a lot of support and advice available from your peers."

"You can be sure that your supervisors will be excellent, giving interesting supervisions and useful feedback on work (and some even provide tea and biscuits!)."

"Supervisions take place for an hour a week (one in each unit) and tend to be in small groups of typically 2-4. However, it’s comforting to know that should you struggle a lot on a particular lecture series there is the possibility that extra supervisions may be arranged. Supervisor changes are minimized too.  Trivial though this may seem, it allows a good rapport and working relationship to form, crucial to when it comes to revision and tackling more complex concepts. "

"The two Directors of Studies that I have had during my course have both been extremely helpful and always there for advice when needed."

"Christ’s is one of the colleges to hold mock exams in the first year. Scary as this may sound, they prepare you really well, giving you a Cambridge ‘exam experience’ before the summer."

"If you are deliberating over where you would like to apply for NatSci: apply here. Not only is the college fantastic, but the standard with which the Natural Sciences course is delivered, organised, and supported, at Christ’s is exemplary."

The University Course

The University of Cambridge is internationally recognised for the quality of research carried out in the physical and biological sciences, making this one of the most exciting places in the world to study science with leaders in the field carrying out cutting-edge research. The course is very flexible: in the first year (Part 1A) Natural Sciences students with an interest in either physical or biological sciences take three of the following courses:

Biology of Cells, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Evolution and Behaviour, Physics, Materials and Mineral Sciences, Physiology of Organisms. All students must take one course in Mathematics (offered at three different levels).

In the second year (Part 1B), students can take more specialised courses according to their interests, choosing from a large number of options in both physical and biological sciences. To complete the BA, students normally read one subject in more detail in the third year (Part 2). The third year offers students the opportunity to carry out research projects and to write a dissertation on their work. Some subjects offer a fourth year with further specialisation.

More details about the University course can be found at the web link at the top of the page.

How to Apply

In addition to nominating Cambridge as one of your selected universities on the UCAS application form, it is also desirable to choose a College of preference (the alternative is to submit an Open Application and allow a College preference to be chosen for you by computer). This can appear to add to the complexity of applying to Cambridge, but in reality the option of stating your particular College preference increases the control which you have over your own application. Many criteria can be used for choosing a College of preference, including such factors as the size of the student body, location, architecture and accommodation, and academic, musical or sporting reputation. If you are able to visit Cambridge (preferably on a College Open Day) you may get a better idea of the location, atmosphere and facilities of various Colleges.

Christ's College does not have fixed quotas of places for different subjects and the exact numbers admitted in any one year will depend upon the strengths of the fields of applicants in various subjects. However, Christ's aim is to admit around 24 to 30 students each year in Natural Sciences.

Applicants for Natural Sciences at Christ's are usually given two interviews, one of which will be with one or more Directors of Studies. The aim of the interviews is to try to determine applicants' potential to benefit from the Natural Sciences Tripos. This is not the same as factual knowledge, or even necessarily past scholastic achievement: interviewers are more concerned to identify motivation and intellectual potential. The interviews have no fixed format but might include, for example, discussion of aspects of school coursework, or being presented with a science question in an unfamiliar guise and being encouraged to think it through. Written questions are not normally used. Most interviews last between 20 and 30 minutes.

Entry requirements are likely to be A*AA at A-level, or equivalent grades in other systems, although the precise terms of each offer are assessed individually. A final point worth making is that we only make offers that we believe candidates have a realistic chance of achieving. Our aim is to admit the best students regardless of their background.

Further Information

If you are able to come to a College Open Day, we will be glad to tell you more about the College and the course in person. If you are not able to come, we will be happy to answer any queries you may have that are not covered by the normal literature. Please address any such enquiries to the Admissions Tutor, Christ's College, Cambridge, CB2 3BU, or by e-mail to admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk.

Research Interests

Gareth Rees: development and application of spaceborne remote sensing techniques to monitoring the dynamics of Arctic glaciated and vegetated terrain.

Tom Monie (Overall DoS Biological Sciences): understanding how our body recognises bacterial and viral pathogens; investigating the role of the NOD-like receptor family in innate immunity.

Alessio Ciulli (DoS Chemistry): interests broadly concern the non covalent molecular recognition between small molecules and proteins. We use chemical, biophysical and structural techniques to study the interaction, and are intrigued by the high potential of exploiting such knowledge for molecular design in chemical biology and drug discovery.

Bob Skelton (DoS Fluid Dynamics): the initial thrust of our research was directed towards improving wet oxidation processes for organic wastes, the work has now broadened out to other photochemical processes.

David Norman (DoS Earth Sciences, Animal Biology, Evolution and Behaviour, Plant Biology, Ecology, Zoology): the diversity of vertebrate (backboned) life on Earth during the Mesozoic Era by integrating anatomy, physiology, ecology and geology. This work is integral to palaeobiology, but is of interest to evolutionary biologists, systematists, biostratigraphers and tectonic modellers.

Peter McNaughton: molecular and cellular basis of pain sensation, and the cellular basis of magnetic sensation.

Jim Smith: understanding the molecular basis of mesoderm formation.

Susan Jones: function of AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors at excitatory synapses in the brain.

Margaret Stanley: Professor of Epithelial Biology, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge.

Gerard Evan: using switchable mouse genetic models to validate therapeutic cancer targets.

David Klenerman: biological chemistry, especially enyzyme mechanism and inhibition.

Ed Roberts: the development of cancer cachexia, a major complication arising in a large proportion of advanced cancer patients.

Ben Longdon: host-parasite ecology and evolution.